Of Wings and Whispers

[drron]

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And we fit through this opening-

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The next day was a sea day.So what do you think the pictures were of that day?

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[drron]

So it is now Copenhagen and the end of the first cruise.Only 4 passengers continuing on.Again we have been to Copenhagen so again used it to stretch our legs and do a walk around the nearby park.A very pleasant day.Of course we did visit Copenhagen's most popular lady-

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[drron]

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Churchill Park-

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[drron]

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[bwhouse]

Just caught up on this one as I have some proper internet access again. Awesome photos. Looks like an amazing trip.

 

[drron]

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There is also a large mermaid on the Copenhagen waterfront-

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And sometimes at that age they can be-

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We tried to use all our remaing Danish currency but 2 icecreams left us with 5.5 DEK-not enough for a postcard.
Back to the ship for a late lunch.The new passengers were arriving in dribs and drabs.Another 2 crew we had cruised with before also arrived.We then took advantage of the internet before the newbies organised their internet.On the first crew only Medallion and above had unlimited complimentary internet.On this cruise it was everyone so on sea days it got very slow.

We had dinner with an American couple whose luggage had been lost by KLM.They became part of our trivia team along with another American couple and a Scot's couple.We became a formidable team.

 

[RooFlyer]

So to St.Isaacs the largest Russian Orthodox church in the city and the largest in Russia until they built a larger one in Moscow.Stripped of it's icons after the revolution it became the Museum of religion and atheism.Now used as a church again.Original paintings inside but they deteriorated due to the cold,damp conditions so most are now mosaics.
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I reckon St Isaacs was one of the highlights of ST Petersburg ... and not that popular with tourists (fortunately). Outside views from the dome were terrific.

<snip>
We did find a little bit of Australia though.The first should be back home with JohnM-
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And RM's boots at $A750 didn't seem a bargain.

Recently I was in western Canada and my boots fell to bits. So I went into the local shoe store for urgent replacements and a pile of 'Blundstone boots from Tasmania' greeted me. Sale!

 

[coolumbla]

now only a fortnight till Mrs C and i are in St Petersburg
I will have to show her the trip report !
Ive checked the itinerary alicia has done for us , we have lots of free time so shall go exploring some of the places you went to that aren't on our guided tours

 

[drron]

The first cruise was a 7 day port intensive cruise.Totally different to our previous experiences.No time really to get to know other passengers-a lot our fault as we didn't do any of the ships tours and with our extensive private touring in St. Petersburg we were to tired to go to shows or the bar.This second cruise was a totally different experience and what we are used to.Started with a sea day and 11 days in duration.
So we did get to know several others and had time to have our formidable trivia team-us,2 American couples and 1 daughter and a delightful Scottish couple who you will hear about late.Only won twice,a couple of thirds but the rest as runners up.I also had time for the putting tournament.It was a lot of fun but I also won twice and on all but 2 other occasions at least equal second.Fooled most into thinking I could really play.
Between those 2 endeavours earned enough points for 2 Silverseas T shirts!

Really quiet day with Mrsdrron getting a massage.It was the Welcome coughtail party again and we dined with the Staff Captain.Once again a really enjoyable night.The next day we awoke steaming into Tallinn.Lots of sea birds-

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Next to us at the wharf was a blast from the past-

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The National Geographic Orion.We cruised on her in the Kimberleys and from Dunedin to the Antarctic.Coming back we had waves to 18 metres.See the line of windows at the front below the large window-that is the bridge and the waves were breaking above that at the rear-where our cabin was on that deck.It was just the plain Orion then but a Linblad Captain was on board.

We decided just to catch the shuttle to the Old Town and stroll those areas we hadn't gone with ozmatt a week before.

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Out of the darkness into the light-

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That is the Katariina walk.Mrsdrron wanted to look at the craft shops there.Some interesting stuff.On one side of the walk they had ancient burial stones-

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[Paddy55]

Just caught up on this one as I have some proper internet access again. Awesome photos. Looks like an amazing trip.

Ditto - love the trip, especially the photos. Hoping to visit St Petersburg one day!

 

[drron]

The Tallinn pictorial continues-

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[drron]

This place reckoned it was the oldest coffee shop in Tallinn.I did like the coffee cups on the ferris wheel-

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A couple of places left a little of the render of to show you what the wall was like-

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[drron]

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[drron]

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The Tallinn summer flower show had finished the day before but several of the exhibits were still there-

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[drron]

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[drron]

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This restaurant had lots of Jacobs Creek paraphernalia but most like this upside down.

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[drron]

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So back to the ship.Walking alongside the Orion I recognised the Hotel Director.What is more extraordinary I remembered his name.Turns out Linblad kept virtually all the crew when they took her over so recognised and talked to several of the crew.
The Helsinki fastcat leaves and your storyteller scrubs up OK-

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An unusual sunset with lots of pastel colours-

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